Mayte, You will love your lab. They are great dogs. We had 4, but now only have 3. We had to put Tilly to sleep 2 yrs. ago. She was a chocolate lab and my baby. Of the 3 we have now, 2 are from Tilly's only litter. Sadie never left us. She is shy and a little slow. She is a very loving dog. Cody was the biggest of the litter. He only has 3 legs. He was shot when he was young. The guy that took him didn't want him anymore, so we took him back. Max was a throw away. He had been abused and dropped off in the country. They are all wonderful dogs. They are our kids and the love they give to us is PRICELESS...

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"He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart.

I also have a great fondness for labs. Even though not quite as smart as a chessy, they are far more sociable. I have had two, both hunt trained. The last one (Moonshadow) was cross trained for ducks and upland game birds, with all of the whistle and hand signals. She LIVED for hunting. I have seen her spit out her dinner at the sound of a shotgun action cycling.

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"If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe." Carl Sagan

On Valpal! What a sad but wonderful story about your labs. It angers me how anyone can abuse children and animals. I love it that you took those pups in and gave them special homes. My Shelties are rescue dogs from people who didn't want them anymore and abused them. Took awhile to get through some neuroses but with a lot of love and encouragement, they trust and love me unconditionally. They are our babies as we have no children, so we tend to spoil them a bit! But they are very well-behaved and well-mannered dogs. A bit vocal and would kill for pizza, but great, loving dogs. Whereever I go they follow. My husband jokes about my entourage following me like I am queen or something to them!

Sorry bout the violation earlier .. I didn`t realise saying the female form of dog would cause that

But you`re all sooo right .. my lab is lovely. I used to have one before .. another female called Jessie. Again .. she was really smart and well trained. Loved her to bits but she was put to sleep when she was around 12 years old. My brother had her for her last 6 months because she was ill and I was at work all day and not there to take care of her properly.

Its been a turn around because the dog I have now is my brothers Its as though he`s thanking me for letting him take care of my old girl. And because I live so far away from my brother its almost as though I have part of him here with me too

Any of you dog lovers seen Christopher Guest's "Best in Show"? It's a mockumentary of a dog show, and my gosh, it's the funniest movie in the world!

For instance, one of the couples who enter their dog sing a song about it (Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara)

Here's how it goes

God loves a terrierYes he doesGod loves a terrierThat's becausebrown, sturdy, bright and truethey give their hearts to youGod didn't miss a stitchbe it dog or be it **TOS VIOLATION**when he made the Norfolk merrierwith his cute little derrieryes God loves a terrier!

I love that movie!!

~neffie

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Aragorn What do you fear, my lady? Eowyn A cage. To stay behind bars until use and old age accept them, and all chance of valor has gone beyond recall or desire.

After the dark days of the clearances when scots were forced to leave their homes and find a living elsewhere a lot of them moved to the Yorkshire area which was a center for textiles. The scots brought a dog with them that they used for hunting small animals (rabbits, weasels.....) these dogs were later trained to hunt and kill Rats in the textile mills the name was changed from Scottish Brokenhair to Yorkshire Terrier...

They are fantastic dogs....some of the hunting traits have been bred out of them and turned into lap dogs but they have a very noble heritage....

Our current Yorkie (Breagh) is quite a little terrier and she shows her hunting side whenever she attacks one of her toys or a pair of my socks...they are usually shaken within an inch of their life....

She loves a good fight with her stuff toys and she shows no mercy. She shakes them smacking them on the ground and then throws them up in the air and starts all over again...

She has a real loving side to her also. In the morning I usually get a warm nuzzel from her laying her head between my shoulder and neck very gently resting it there for a few minutes to see if I wake up. If that does not wake me up then a quick ear cleaning usually gets my attention...

Our current Yorkie (Breagh) is quite a little terrier and she shows her hunting side whenever she attacks one of her toys or a pair of my socks...they are usually shaken within an inch of their life....

She loves a good fight with her stuff toys and she shows no mercy. She shakes them smacking them on the ground and then throws them up in the air and starts all over again...

She has a real loving side to her also. In the morning I usually get a warm nuzzel from her laying her head between my shoulder and neck very gently resting it there for a few minutes to see if I wake up. If that does not wake me up then a quick ear cleaning usually gets my attention...

Paula! That Nikki of mine is a very intense serious dog! He cracks us up! He is so serious and always so verbal. When I get the camera out he always poses like he is in the military or something. Teddy Bear HATES the camera. I have to really work with him to get a picture.

I have several friends who have Yorkshire Terriers and all love them. I have done many a portrait of a Yorkshire:

Oh, forgot to ask. Has anybody been watching the Westminister Dog Show? I watched it tonight and Maisky, saw your beautiful Chessie! What a marvelous dog. I got interrupted as to who won in that retrieving line. They were showing the Chessie flying through to the water and retrieving sticks and stuff out of the water. It was just like you said!